Van Zyl, Federicks to resume hurdles rivalry

Johannesburg - One of the most exciting rivalries will resume on Friday when LJ van Zyl and Cornel Fredericks battle it out to become the South African 400m hurdles champion.

Credit: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

LJ Van Zyl in the middle. Photo by: Chris Ricco

The two of them have been dominating the event since 2006 with both Tuks/HPC-athletes winning the title on four occasions. Van Zyl was victorious in 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015 while Fredericks won in 2010 and 2012 through to 2014. It would be foolish to predict who is going to come out tops this time round.

Van Zyl has competed in the 400m hurdles on two occasions this season. Winning at the Gauteng North Championship in a time of 50.09 while his winning time at the ASA Night Series-meeting in Cape Townwas 49.74s. He is the first to admit his times are nothing to get excited about but added immediately that his aim for now is not to set the world alight by posting fast times.

“My aim is to be at my best when I start my international campaign. At the South African Championships the goal is to win the title whatever it takes,” said the South African record holder (47.66s).

Van Zyl could reach a unique milestone in Stellenbosch. If he runs a time faster than 49.50s it will be the 100th time he has done so. Should he run faster than 49 seconds it will be for a 66th time and if he runs faster than 48.50 it will be for the 23rd time.

“Friday is going to be tough because we race the heats and the final on the same day. The same happened at the Gauteng North Championship. It makes for tricky racing. In the final I start off slightly slower than I usually would done to make sure that I still got something left in my legs for when it really mattered.”

Lindsay Hanekom (Tuks/HPC) can be the athlete who upsets the “applecart” on Friday in the 400-hurdles final. Last year's Under-23 champion makes no secret about his aspirations.

“I am not saying that I will beat them, but I am certainly going to do my best to do so. “What counts in my favour is that I have nothing to lose. Both LJ and Cornel have titles and reputations to defend. For now I am just running to enjoy myself and that is a nice position to be in.” - African News Agency (ANA)

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